DOHA — Hamas has ruled out a ceasefire deal unless Israel “lifts the siege” on Gaza, the organization’s political chief says.

In his first interview since the latest conflict began in Gaza, Khaled Meshal insisted his organization will not accept a simple cessation of fire by both sides, but only a deal that includes long-term commitments to improve the “rights of the Palestinian people.”

For the first time, he laid out the demands of his organization.

Israel must “stop the aggression” of air strikes against targets in Gaza, release the dozens of Palestinians detained in response to last month’s kidnapping and murder of three Israeli students in the West Bank, and “end the siege on Gaza permanently.”

“These are our clear demands,” Mr. Meshal said in the Qatar capital Doha, where he lives. “We won’t accept an agreement that prolongs the suffering of our people any more. In Gaza, for the past seven years of siege, its 1.8 million people have been living in a prison.”

The demands go much further than a return to the truce brokered in Cairo in 2012 that ended eight days of fighting in the Gaza Strip. That truce included a pledge to open the Rafah border crossing, intending to ease the blockade of the coastal enclave.

Thursday, Mr. Meshal said an easing of the restrictions was no longer acceptable. Hamas would stop at nothing short of a “full and permanent” lifting of the blockade that, as well as regulating the traffic of people and goods at the border, forbids trade from Gaza’s port.

Since Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who along with many western nations considers Hamas a terrorist organization, became Egyptian president this year, the Rafah crossing has remained mostly closed.

Mr. Sisi also blocked tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which had become a vital supply line, both of goods for civilians banned under the blockade and weapons for the enclave’s armed groups.

Mr. Meshal refused to expand on the details of how the siege would be lifted, saying mediators were discussing the matter privately.

Meanwhile, the Hamas leader insisted his group would continue firing rockets into Israel. Asked whether firing the rockets — which have been rendered largely ineffective by Israel’s protective Iron Dome shield — was worthwhile in the face of so many Palestinian deaths, he replied, “If the rockets are not effective, why is the international community pushing for a ceasefire?”

He said the calculation was “not about the impact of each rocket,” but the political effect they have in Israel. The rockets were a symbol of the Palestinian’s will to resist “occupation.”

Mr. Meshal said the Palestinian issue could no longer just “be placed on the table for discussion” and this time it had to be resolved.

With the latest round of peace talks, led by John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, having failed, a return to violent “resistance” had become necessary.

“It’s normal that you see those cycles of violence. This has been going on for tens of years and it will continue until we reach an end to this occupation,” he said.

He denied Israeli accusations two Hamas member had been responsible for killing the three Israeli youths. Israel said they had been murdered by Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Aisha from the West Bank city of Hebron.

The Hamas chief said Israel had “no evidence” on which to base the accusation, other than that the two operatives had “gone underground” at about the same time the students were captured and killed.

The group “had no information” about how the incident came about, and therefore could neither confirm or deny responsibility.

But he refused to condemn the murderers, saying “no self-respecting Palestinian … would condemn the killing of a settler, and those people were settlers.”

“It’s the Palestinian’s right to resist against Israeli, be it soldier or settler, as long as he lives on occupied land,” he added.

Mr. Meshal said his organization was not consulted about this week’s short-lived, Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.

“We heard about the ceasefire deal through the media,” he said.

“We were not consulted. Hamas is the main player in retaliating against Israeli aggression against Gaza. So how would an initiative succeed whilst disregarding the main players?

“Every oppressed person fights and tries to gain independence with very limited resources; that’s how they fought in South Africa, and in the French Revolution. The Palestinians know Israel is stronger than them, but the Palestinians are also determined to liberate their land.”